On Sunday, the department confirmed that 104 people's Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) had been stopped as they had flown abroad.
The Government has been heavily criticised for the move, with Fianna Fáil TD Willie O'Dea saying "it was not right and proper that one category of people who don’t take the Government’s advice should be singled out for punishment.”
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties is questioning the legality of the move, but Heather Humphreys is defending it and says many of the people were permanently leaving the country.
"What we are doing is not against the law. In 2012 a law was passed that allowed social welfare inspectors to carry out these checks at Dublin Airport and Port, and that law was brought through the Dáil by former Minister Joan Burton.
"It was the right thing to do. We cannot be paying people that are living outside the country."
